Bugs
by hmw95
Summary: Part one of my What if... series. What if something different happened during the monster hunting episodes? What if one of the brothers have a hidden injury?
1. Chapter 1

After the cockroach looking monster came after him, he thought this fight would last a lifetime. It was hard to even hit it without the long claws coming at you.

Leo punched at the ugly thing and it wrapped a claw around his forearm. It ripped off his wrist guard. The young ninja then threw a second punch with the same hand. The bug grabbed it again, but Leonardo couldn't get his arm away fast enough.

The claw dug into his arm, and it stung. There was a burning sensation going up fro the wound to his strong bicep. Leo winced, but refused to let out a cry. He unsheathed a sword and sliced the stomach open, making blue gel go everywhere. His arm was leaking blood, and a weird blackish color fluid. Leonardo grabbed his wrist guard and took out an extra one.

He wrapped both around the wound, to make sure that his brother's won't notice it. Raph ran up to him, breathless. They seemed to have beaten the monster, but Don tripped over a pipe and got a deep gash in his leg. Then Raph's concerns turned to Leo.

"Bro, you okay?"

"Yeah. Let's get Don home and take care of his wound. We don't want the risk of infection." Leo answered. He walked home, satisfied that his younger brother didn't notice his arm. The young turtle held his burning and aching arm on the way home. But, he would not tell his brothers about the claw getting him.

What his brothers don't know won't hurt them.

A/N: This chapter is meant to be short!! Ummm… Just letting you know.

The scene takes place in Season 4 when Bishop has the monsters running in the sewers. I switched everything though. Yeah, Don never gets infected. This is part one of my "What if…" series. Hope it's a good start!


	2. Chapter 2

Leo quickly made his way to his room. He was sweating, and the wound wouldn't stop aching!

He grabbed out some gauze and surgical tape and was about to wrap it around the wound, until he saw how bad it was. Leo unwrapped the wrist guard and saw it still bleeding and it had a dark black ring around the injury. He grabbed some antibiotics and rubbed some of the ointment over the mark before wrapping it.

Once finished, he took a look at his work. It looked small enough to stay hidden if he put something over it. Leo then looked to his wrist guard and wrapped two extra ones around each of his wrists. He looked again, and his forearm looked as if nothing happened to it. He smiled and went to join his family for dinner.

A/N: Okkkkaayy… This is a short story. So, short story… Short chapters. Sorry!


	3. Chapter 3

Leo turned and muffled his coughing into his pillow. He hated feeling under the weather. The ninja grabbed his box of tissues, before letting out a loud sneeze into his pillow. He was _so_ glad that his brothers didn't share a room with him anymore.

Leonardo squeezed his eyes shut to try to at least gain a few hours of sleep. Only to be answered by a sneeze or two, he knew his answer. The ninja got out of bed and went to make some peppermint tea to settle his stomach. It didn't help at all. Leo made a quiet groan and went to the Dojo. He settled himself onto the meditation mat and began to take deep breaths.

What felt like hours later, Leo heard footsteps. He tried to keep my focus and try to ignore the familiar tickle in his throat. That's when the door to the Dojo was thrown open and Leonardo heard two sets of loud footsteps. There were two different volumes of their steps. One was soft, but a little on the rough side. Don. The other was loud, almost clumsy sounding. Mikey. Where was Raph?

Then the familiar sound of thumping took place in the living area of Lair. Raph was beating on his punching bag. '_Should've guessed…'_ Leo thought as he kept lotus position. He almost fell back into the trance of meditation when Mike screamed.

"BREAKFAST IS READY!!!"

It rang through Leo's pounding head. Not only did it leave him rubbing his sensitive ears because Mike was in the same room, but he ended up rubbing his aching temple with his other free hand. Why did he have to have such a bad headache?

"I heard you Mike… In fact I think the whole _world_ heard you…" Leo croaked. This voice wasn't as scratchy as he thought it would turn out to be. Don walked up to his eldest brother and examined his figure. Why did Leo look so ill?

"Ummm… Leo? You okay? You look a little under the weather." Don told his brother. Leo looked at his intelligent sibling. Donatello's hazel eyes were filled with concern while Leo's usually bright sapphire was dull. Purple circles were beginning to form underneath the now midnight blue orbs. Questions were going through Donny's mind before he realized that his brother's eyes had a pinkish tint where his eyes were supposed to white. Also, the midnight blue had a slight purple tinge to it.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Let's get to breakfast before Mike rips my head off." Leo said.

"_Hey!_" Mike yelled. But neither brother paid attention to the youngest. The prankster left he room in a huff.

"Leo, instead of going to breakfast, do you think you can come to the lab really quickly?" Don asked. Leo nodded and the younger sibling helped his elder up and out the door. Don set his big brother on the lab table and went over to grab a few syringes.

"Ummm… Don? Why are you getting needles?" Leo questioned. Don looked to his brother and sighed.

"You're sick bro. You have a high fever and your eyes are beginning to grow dark. Almost like a midnight color." Don informed. Leo looked to his brother. He let out a breath and reached out to his wrist guard. The wound was still infected, and still had gauze around it. Leonardo slowly unwrapped it, and Don gasped at what he saw.

"Leo! Y-you are injured!" Don whispered loudly, in disbelief. Leo winced at how pained his brother sounded. The younger took the arm gently and carefully unwrapped the gauze. The ring around the injury was darker and it was starting to bleed again. Leo tried to move his hurt arm towards his brother, and was horrified that he couldn't move it.

"Ummm… Don! We've got bigger problems! I can't move my arm!" Leo raised his voice to get his startled brother's attention. Don quickly grabbed a bottle of a weird colored liquid and put it in the syringe. The younger went over to Leonardo and stuck the needle in his arm. Don went over to a pile of supplies and grabbed a sling. "No way Don! I am _not _wearing a sling!"

"It could be worse Leo. Either sling or no training _period._" Don said. He knew he got it there, because Leo's eyes got wide and he quickly grabbed for the sling. "How did you get hurt anyway?"

"Ummm… One of the monsters got me in the arm." Leo answered. Don wrapped the arm in more heavy-duty gauze and put it in the sling. Before Leo could say anything about leaving, Don wrapped his brother in a hug. The elder of the two pulled back from the hug about ten minutes later when the younger cried out. His leg still hurt when people touched it. "How's the leg, by the way?"

"Ummm… Still hurts, but okay." Don looked to his brother and felt as an unspoken agreement took place. "And don't worry. I won't tell Sensei, Raph or Mike about how you got your injury." The younger winked and Leo smiled back. The two left the lab smiling; the elder's good arm over the younger's shoulders. Right now, Leo didn't care what would happen next.

He knew Don would have his back.

A/N: There you go! Hope this is longer for your tastes!! Sorry for the other shorter ones…


	4. Chapter 4

Leo rubbed at his still sore arm.

It was just released from the sling yesterday. 

Now, they were monster hunting. They left Don at April's because he couldn't move very well. So here Leo is, shooting at bugs and wincing every time he moves his arm.

Yeah.

Doing great.

Don is sitting at April's probably on the computers while Leonardo was miserable.

Leo sighed and continued shooting at the bugs.

But then, something very strange happened.

A burning sensation went up his arm, and then turned into pure pain. He cried out and immediately dropped the gun he was holding in his hands.

Leonardo almost screamed because suddenly, the pain wasn't only in his arm, but _everywhere._ He felt like he was growing. Leo's knee and elbow pads ripped and tore off.

Pain was flaring everywhere on his body. He finally stopped fighting and screamed in complete agony.

Raph turned to help his brother, not knowing what was happening. He expected to see his older brother with a claw in his stomach, but this was much worse.

When the red wearing turtle turned, he was standing face to face with a large monster. A tattered blue cloth was lying beside the raging reptile. That's when Raphael noticed that this beast had a plastron and shell.

This was not monster.

It was Leo!

A/N: Erm… Sorry for the short chapter. I have a lot of stuff to study for. Sorry. 


	5. Chapter 5

Raph stared wide-eyed at the big monster.

How could this thing be his brother?

He dodged a blow from the giant bug he was facing off still. Raphael noticed that Mikey was taking aim and Leo…

"Mike! NO!" He yelled as loud as he could. Raph pushed his brother's gun towards the other monsters and managed to catch one of them.

"What the heck is your problem, Raph? That _thing_ is just a monster!" That's Mike realized that something was wrong. "Hey, um… Where's Leo?" That's when the young turtle noticed the shell and plastron on the monster. "O-Oh god… H-he's _that_?" He stuttered as he was frozen in place. The monster that was apparently Leo decided that was the time to strike. Raph grabbed his younger sibling's arm and pulled Mike away.

"Not the time Mikey! _Run_!" Raph yelled.

The brothers ran until they were both at the battle shell. Mike quickly got in, but Raph froze. He remembered his elder brother's mask, lying tattered at the monster's feet. The ninja ran as fast as he could and dashed by the monster, grabbing the bandanna. Mike chose at that time to drive to his brother in the battle shell. Raph quickly jumped in, and they began to speed to April's, with Leonardo's monster right on their tail. That's when they came to a turn that took them through the city. But if you went straight ahead, you wouldn't even be noticed. Mike began to turn the wheel, but Raph stopped him.

"Floor it Mike!" Raphael yelled. Mike looked at his older brother in disbelief.

"What?" He asked. Didn't they want the monster Leo to be captured and contained? A little sadness filled Mike's heart as he remembered that this creature was his brother.

"Floor it! There is no way we're going to get Leo sighted! We need to find out what is wrong with him and help him!" Raph shouted. Mike sighed and floored the gas pedal. They sped through the alleyways, unsighted. Then, to Mike's horror, a sudden crash was heard from atop the vehicle. Raph looked at the ceiling of the battle shell and took a quick notice that cracks were forming. Just then, the top collapsed.

Mike expected to feel unrecognizable pain, but all he heard was a loud creaking sound. He looked back, to see that his older brother was holding the top up. Michelangelo unconsciously released some of the power of his foot he was using to floor the pedal. Raph winced as his arm muscles began to scream. Sure, he was by far the strongest of the four brothers, but this was unbelievable! He then felt the vehicle slow down. Raph felt the hot metal on his hands begin to dig into his skin. He felt the skin tear, and even felt the monster on top of the Battle Shell walking over the collapsing ceiling.

"M-Mike! H-hurry! I-I d-don't know h-how much l-longer I can ho-hold it!" Raphael gasped. Mike's eyes widened as he saw blood begin to stain the metal. He once again floored the gas pedal, hoping to make it to April's before something serious happened to Raph's arms, hands or even just his whole body. Michelangelo smiled in relief as he saw the familiar sign reading "2nd Time Around". He slowed the vehicle until it came to a complete stop. Mike looked at his brother, and saw how pained he looked. The younger of the two opened the door; careful not to make the roof the machine fall more.

"'Kay, Raph… Just jump out on three… One, two…" He stepped out of the machine, making sure there was a clear path for Raphael. The elder let go and made a mad dash out of the battle shell when Mike shouted. "THREE!" They both sat out, leaning against the rough brick of April's shop looking at the mess that used to be their transportation. They looked at each other, panting, then at Raphael's hands. Mike whispered in a freaked out tone as he saw the damage done by the metal.

At first sight of those horrific scarlet colored _things_ replacing his brother's hands, he couldn't even tell if there were still hands there. Blood was flowing heavily and Raph began to sway. Then he heard a loud thump and looked up, only to see that he was face to face with Leonardo. A strangled scream tore through his throat and he jumped up, standing protectively in front of Raphael, who was on the verge of losing consciousness.

April heard a scream outside of her apartment. She walked down in the shop and realized that it was coming from the alleyway in the back of the shop. The young woman slowly opened the door, horrified by what was happening in the alleyway. Mikey was fighting a large, turtle looking, monster while Raph laid unconscious behind him. April gagged as she saw the small puddle of blood form around Raphael's hands. Mike then sighted her and pushed the monster away from him and April.

"A-April! G-get Don! I-I can't do this by myself!" Mike gasped. He began to push the monster away, careful not to get any claws into his skin. April stared wide-eyed at the open display of emotion from Michelangelo. But she knew what to do, and she had to do it before it was too late. April ran into her shop and up the stairs.

"_Donny_!" April screamed. She kept on repeating his name until she fell to her knees on the stairs and was crying. The young woman finally heard footsteps coming her way and someone kneeling down beside her, careful of his injured leg.

"April! Calm down! What's going on?" Don asked. But he then heard a loud thump come from outside. Donatello carefully walked down the stairs and opened the door slowly. He gasped at the sight. A monster was creeping up to Michelangelo, who appeared to be hit into the wall and appeared to be unconscious. His older brother, Raphael, was laid against the wall, pale and unconscious because of blood flow from his hands. Don quickly drew out his bo staff and jumped out at the monster, repeatedly hitting it.

Michelangelo, who was beginning to rouse to consciousness, saw his older brother, Don, fighting off the monster. He noticed that Donatello was about to _finish_ the monster off. The purple wearing ninja brought the bo staff down quickly towards the monster's temple.

"_Donny_!_ No_!" Mikey yelled. Don tried to stop by turning the blow towards the ground, but his weapon ended up knocking out the monster, although not fatally.

"Mike! What the heck! Did you see what that _thing_ did to both you and Raph?" Don snapped. The younger of the two looked at the elder, tearfully. He had a very large, swelling bump on the back of his head.

"That _thing_ is Leo!" Mike shouted. Don stared wide-eyed at the monster he could've just killed. He would've killed his _brother_. The Bo staff felt like it weighed hundreds of pounds and he let it fall to the ground with a clank of wood to concrete.

What happened to Leonardo? What changed him into this savage beast? Why did Don feel like killing the monster impersonating his brother?

Donatello fell to his knees and stared at Leonardo.

Mike didn't have the chance to get April before Donatello got sick on the pavement.


End file.
